The Illini faced their first big test of the season today and responded well, beating the Maryland Terrapins 71-62 on the road. Even though Maryland isn't as strong as they were under former head coach Gary Williams, this win is huge for our Illini. As part of the Big Ten/ACC challenge, this was the first nationally televised game for our freshman and first true test of the season. The Illini clawed out an impressive come-from behind win to put one on the board for the Big Ten! Here are my take-aways from this game:

This is the most talented and athletic Illini team I have seen in ages. Every player has the ability to take over the game at any time. The future is definitely bright for our young team.

For the first time in a long time, MOST of the players on the team have multiple ways to score. If our jumpers weren't falling (they weren't at the beginning of the game), our guys have the athleticism and ability to get inside. We did, and it worked.

Being a young team, there are going to be some growing pains against tougher opponents. Defensively, I noticed a couple of miscommunications on defense, wrong or late switches, that led to some scores. Luckily they kept it minimal tonight, but expect to see that at least a few games this year. Especially against tougher opponents and more hostile environment. But despite the growing pains, I will commend our guys (new and old) for playing with excellent intensity on the defensive end. Bruce has got to love that. Our guys also need to learn when the lob to the middle is there. I saw way too many turnovers on guys trying to feed Meyers Leonard. If it's not there, you can't force it. Swing the ball around the perimeter and see if Leonard can't get better position. I can't blame them for wanting to feed Leonard though,

Because he is special. You can really tell he used to play guard before his growth spurt. He has excellent court awareness and athleticism for a 7 footer. On top of that, he's a beast around the rim defensively and can finish offensively. Add in a little mean streak (see the taunt near the end of the game on that blocked shot?) and he will be an intimidating force during the Big Ten season. Leonard had 12 and 6 on the night.

And now for the older guys:

Sam Maniscalco is a stud. Plain and simple. He can just straight ball. Him being on the team will add at least a handful of wins to our team. On top of that he's the on court leader. He's calm, cool, and smart. He might save a technical foul here and there. Sam had 24 points including 5-8 from 3-point land.

I noticed a lot of improvement out of Griffey too. We always knew he could hit that outside shot, but today he showed he could finish inside. This steady playing time is really letting him get into a rhythm. He can be a pleasant surprise this season. He had 7 points and 6 boards in limited time.

And finally, Brandon Paul to me will be our most important player. He's got the best offensive skill set and has clearly matured this offseason. I rarely saw out of control lunges at the basket, trying for a foul. He knew when to shoot and when to drive. He fed his teammates well. He finished with 17 points and 3 assists. And he's the emotional leader of the team. Look for him to be a spark plug and be the energy we may need on the road.

If the Illini can keep up this style of play, we are going to be in for an exciting season. This might be the funnest Illini team to watch in recent years. Next, we face another big test in 19th ranked Gonzaga.

Illinois's recent string of tough losses isn't about to end anytime soon.  Saturday, the Wisconsin Badgers come in to town, ranked #17th in the latest BCS.  They sit second in the Leaders Division with a good chance at overtaking Penn State for the lead by the end of the season.  So how do the Illini stop the ultra-talented Badger squad?  Well it starts with a good offensive gameplan and for it to be excecuted properly.  Easier said than done, but if we are kept scoreless in the first half for the 5th consecutive game, we will have no chance at winning.  Even if our offense does pitch a perfect game, we still have to stop the extremely talented Russell Wilson.  To be realistic, this blogger puts at odds at one in a million.

 

So there's a chance!!!!

 

But in all honesty we do have to pitch a perfect game to win this one.  Whitney Mercilus and Michael Buchanan will have their hands full with the always tough Wisconsin offensive line.  If we can somehow stop Russell, we still have to worry about All Big Ten candidate Montee Ball.  And that's a big IF, as Russell is three times the quarterback that Denard Robinson was.  Our defense will have to be on their toes and be able to defend the run and pass (often times in the same play).  There are just way too many weapons on that team.  We're also a man short with Trulon Henry out for season with a gunshot wound to the hand.

Offensively, we just have to execute better than we have in the last 4 weeks.  If we played like it was the 4th quarter, we'd be somewhat ok.  But we NEED points on the board early and often.  If we let Wisconsin get an early lead, they will run run and run it at us, burning clock and our defensive stamina.  I would like to see more read options.  We've been going away from that in favor of straight hand-offs and I just don't think it's working.  In the passing game, we have to give Nathan Scheelhaase some time.  Use that heavy pass rush against them and call a screen pass here or there.  I don't care how, but we have to get the ball into the hands of AJ Jenkins.  He hasn't been as dominant here in Big Ten season as he was earlier and our offensive output shows.  Our running backs have to hold on to the ball.  We just can't afford to lose the turnover battle in this one.

On special teams I only have one request.  CATCH THE PUNT.  Fair catch if you want, just secure the ball.  Oh God, please.  Secure the punt.

Prediction:

Wisconsin 35

Illinois: 17

This week the Illini welcome in our toughest opponent to date: Arizona State.  Fresh off a thrilling victory over our (thankfully) former rivals, Missouri.  So what can we expect?  Our wins over Arkansas State and South Dakota State didn't exactly test our team, (sorry Red Wolves and Jackrabbits) so here's what I'm expecting from our first quality opponent.

Expect a lot of Donovonn Young.  It's no secret that Ron Zook loves the multiple running attack.  Ford was everyone's starter going into the season, despite excitement over the freshmen.  After a strong performance over SD State, let's see if Young can put up a good showing against Arizona State.  Look for today's game to heavily determine carry distribution for the next couple of weeks.

6'8" Brock Osweiler is going to really test our defense, having thrown for more than 600 yards on the season already.  This game will show us how much we will really miss Corey Liuget but also how much Terry Hawthorne and Justin Green are ready for the challenge.  Without much of a threatening running game, our secondary will be tested often, and we know how that has worked before, (see last season against Missouri and Michigan.)

I want to see John Davis involved more.  He had just his first catch this last week.  Offensive Coordinator Paul Petrino is known for incorporating the Tight End and we have a stud who just needs some experience.  Arizona State would have done their homework and will likely double up on A.J. Jenkins.  This should open things up for Darius Millines and Davis.  Let's see what they can do.  This will also test Scheelhaase's ability to go through his progressions and find the open receiver when AJ's not available.

Hopefully this game will answer all the question marks we had going into the season and give us a good gauge of how we will do come conference time.

Fellow Illini Steve Stricker has won the John Deere Classic at TPC Deere Run to complete the hat trick.  This is a great victory for this blogger on so many levels.  First off, it's great publicity for our school that can now only be classified as a golf school.  (Maybe tennis?).  Second, being a Quad Cities native, I consider this to be my hometown tournament.  Not to mention that the title sponsor, JOHN DEERE, is my employer (makes sense right?).  And finally, who doesn't like seeing a birdie put for the three peat?  That's about as exciting as non-Tiger Woods golf can get!

 

For those that missed it, here's how it went down.  Stricker had a commanding lead in the final round only to find himself needing a birdie for the win on the par 4 18th over young golfing phenom Kyle Stanley.  After hitting his tee shot into the bunker, he turned from LeBron to MJ by placing his second shot from the bunker within 25 feet of the hole, on the fringe.  He would then sink an equally miraculous birdie putt FTW!  Video here.  He then proceeded to do his best Tiger Woods on course impersonation.

For Illini fans everywhere, congrats to Steve Stricker.  A Wisconsin native, Stricker has stated how much he enjoys playing at the John Deere Classic, calling it his home course because of its proximity to both his home and school.  With Scott Langley winning the 2010 NCAA golf championship, and Stricker now being ranked at No. 5 in the world ahead of even Phil Mickelson, maybe we should think of Illinois and golf dominance as being synonymous. Honestly in Sticker I couldn't think of a more deserving winner!  Now on to the British Open!

Demetri McCamey

Our biggest get in 2007?  None other than Demetri McCamey.  Demetri had the highest of expectations placed on him before he even stepped on campus. As a top 100 recruit and arguably Weber's first real "get", Illinois fans were excited to see how Bruce Weber (at the time carrying a reputation for developing guards) would mold this young point guard. Most fans just saw what they wanted to see and labeled him the next Deron Williams - mid-tier top 100 recruit, 6'3" bulky point guard, who was overshadowed by another player on his own high school team (Deron's Bracey Wright to Dmac's Evan Turner). But Demetri isn't Deron, he's Demetri. Even when we had Eric Gordon committed, I remember a friend telling me that, in the long run, Demetri will be a much more important recruit, since he's a four-year player. I agreed and, obviously, it's been pretty accurate. When Gordon de-committed, the expectations increased for Dmac to "save our program." And to this day, they haven't let up.

He didn't start right away his freshman season, but eventually worked his way into the starting line-up. Immediately, you can tell he's the most gifted player on our team. The best combination of ball handling, shot creation, driving, and 3-point shooting on our team. Not as good as a driver or passer as Chester, not as good a shooter as Trent, but a much better all-around player than anyone else. So much so, that it began the unfortunate Illini tradition of holding the ball for 25 seconds, then giving the ball to Demetri hoping he would create something, even as a freshman. Dmac really came out when the aforementioned Eric Gordon and the Hoosiers came to town. He exploded for 31 points, too bad as SOMEBODY ELSE cost us that game. One criticism is that too often, he would put up the three instead of attacking the basket. I remember at least a few games he put up at least 10 three pointers. Yuck. Not what you want from a guy with his ability to get to the basket.

Throughout the years, I've seen him add many moves to his arsenal, and he's been a better player as a result. One thing that was really working last year, but not so much this year, is the pull-up and shoot three, on a fast-break. It only makes sense for him to develop this shot as his momentum is so strong on fast-breaks that with defenders back-away so quickly, him pulling up and shooting gives him a wide open look. He hit it pretty regularly last year, but I haven't seen it go down as often this season. Another move that came up huge in big games last season is the end-of shotclock isolation play: 2 cross-overs, step back, and nail the fade-away three. That almost single-handedly beat Wisconsin at the Kohl Center last year and began talks of the NBA draft. Again, I haven't see that as much regularity this season.

It's no question he's struggled at times this season, Weber attributed that to him being influenced by outside sources (agents, media, etc). They both quickly came back against it. But I still believe that's happening. When people see a potential source of income, they will exploit it. While I haven't heard that he's going to be a lottery pick, I think we can still assume with reasonable confidence he will be drafted. And people will try to make money off of him. It's up to him to block them out and focus on the game. Judging by his recent performances, I think he's doing just that.

Demetri's the one guy on our team who can single handedly win us a game. He's been the face of our team for the last 3.5 years. As he goes, we go. Purdue this week was a great example. We came out strong and built a good lead with him. Our offense was crisp and almost unguardable. Our outside shots were falling, but we also had good ball movement and found the open guy on the inside. Remove him for the rest of the first half, and we only score 6 more points. In contrast, at times this season, he's also been a victim of his own awesomeness. While sometimes, he makes the offense run, at others, our offense doesn't run with him on the court because everyone else expects Dmac to bail them out. There were games this season when our players didn't seem to put forth much effort with Dmac on the court, expecting Dmac to create on his own. Then when Dmac hit the bench, they were all Bill Cole-efforting all of a sudden. Bruce seems to have corrected that brief issue and our offense is as crisp as ever with Dmac running the point.

He's had his (overblown) clashes with Bruce, but I trust in Bruce's methodology. We all know Demetri is the type of guy who needs to be challenged and criticized to be motivated; not praised and commended. Weber has done just that to make sure he stays humble and stays thirsty. Sometimes when you're All-Big Ten, it's hard to hear all that negativity from Coach and that's where the clashes come in, but in the end, it has made him a better player. For all his tough love these last 4 years, expect a BIG hug from Bruce to Dmac this Saturday. Thanks for carrying us on your back for 4 years, Dmac. Best of luck professionally!

We continue in our senior day countdown with the other half of the Mike & Mike Show - Mike Davis. Mike was the last to commit in the class of 2007 when he came on board mere weeks before the season started. He wasn't that highly touted as the general consensus was that he would be going to prep school to develop for a season. I honestly didn't know anything about this guy as a recruit since he came on board so late and (to me) was rarely mentioned as a target during the bulk of the recruiting process.

Recently this year, I heard an announcer describe Mike's high schools scouting report as being 5-stars in terms of talent, and 1-star in terms of mentality, but I don't know if I buy that. I just don't think there was that much attention around him to garner an accurate scouting report. His "claim-to-fame" and annoyingly over-used media factoid is that he graduated from T.C. Williams HS in Virginia, the same one that was featured in the classic "Remember the Titans." Bruce was able to snag with the simple pitch "Why don't you come to U of I instead of going to prep school? If you want to develop, you can always redshirt your first season." Four years (and no redshirt) later, he hasn't looked back.

In his true freshman season, he showed flashes of his potential in limited playing time. But his real coming out party was against Clemson in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge of his sophomore season, where he exploded for 28 points and several dunks that brought the Assembly Hall crowd to its feet. During his sophomore season, he was a double-double machine. He made a living with his mid-range baseline (and straight-on) jumper, trailing fast-break dunks, good defensive rebound positioning, and pogo sticks for legs.

Mike showed modest improvement for his junior season, although he did develop a reputation of taking games off or just flat out disappearing for stretches of times. He did show a few more post moves and was more willing to put the ball on the floor, as opposed to sophomore year when I swear he might have dribbled like 6 times. He was still prone to avoiding contact, but still got his double-doubles pretty regularly. His senior season came and not much changed except for the early portion of the season when he was pretty ineffective for long stretches. He has been on a tear-recently and has almost single-handedly won a few games for us down the stretch.

He has his confidence back and has been playing very aggressive, which makes for the Mike Davis we all want to see, but won't know if we will until game time. He has always been plagued by confidence issues. You can usually read his body language and it's a pretty good indication if he's going to take over this game, or sit back quietly. Him playing with confidence will be huge for this team down the stretch.

As a team that gives up far too many offensive rebounds, his vacuuming abilities on the defensive boards will be huge for us. As well as his unofficial role as the emotional leader of this team (again, only when he has his confidence and mojo working). His contributions as a potential energy/leadership guy is huge, but I wish he could do so more consistently. He has stated recently, he needs to stop worrying about that and go out and do his thing. It's worked since then, I hope it will continue to work for the rest of his senior season.

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Mike Tisdale

Our next senior, Mike Tisdale, committed shortly after Cole did. Weber went to see Mike to reassure him he still had a scholarship after Billy, another big man, recently committed. Tisdale committed shortly after. Like with Cole, I was not impressed with Tisdale when initially seeing his scouting report (does this make me a pessimist?). With Nick Smith fresh in my mind [shudders], I (and the rest of Illini nation) couldn't help but label this tall and very skinny 6'11" 185 pound high school senior as the next coming of Nick Smith. But that was not what Mike had in mind. Over his next four years, Tisdale did a very good job to prove to us that he was NOT Nick Smith. So much so that after his sophomore season, I rarely heard the comparisons to Nick Smith again.

One area of distinction is his impressive weight gain. Tisdale came on campus extremely oversized but he would do well to put on weight throughout his four years. While he never quite put on weight to the Brian Butch type level, he definitely did the best his frame would allow. One of the most annoying things of the past 2 seasons has been constant mention of Tisdale's 6000 calorie a day diet. I'm happy that it has not been mentioned much this year at all. He's now listed at a nice and healthy 250 pounds now. And while he's still undersized and tends to get pushed around, he makes up for that in other aspects of his game.

As a basketball player, Tisdale is the epitome of European style big men. The rare center who is called upon to shoot technical foul free throws for their team. He showed flashes of his potential in limited playing time as a freshman, but like the other half of the Mike & Mike show, really blossomed his sophomore season. I thought, offensively he was a great asset. He has the ability to do an up-and-under that can span like 7 feet (the best one I remember was during the great Clemson comeback last season), and has the ability to pop out and hit the jumper after setting the screen. One thing that I hoped he would develop after his sophomore season was the 3-point shot. He was great at hitting from the elbow or top of the key but seemed hesitant to take the three. Since then, he's become very comfortable taking that three, and that has been huge for us.

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So senior day is quickly approaching.  With Bruce Weber’s "first" official recruiting class at U of I about to graduate, lets take some time to look back at the last 4-5 years and see how they’ve shaped out.  As proud members of the Class of 2007, this is the first real to the Big Ten Network regulars they are today.  This is the rare class that saw everyone contribute and no one buried on the bench.  Apologies to those from the class that didn't make it to campus.  (Quinton Watkins, Rodney Alexander after a year, and JJ after 3 years).  More on those later.  But today, we will start with what was, in my opinion, the least heralded recruit, turned into this fan's favorite: Billy Cole.

Who?  That was my thought when I heard about our first commit of 2007.  All I knew was that he was a skinny 6’9" forward, who Scout.com rated as a 4-star prospect (at the time).  At this point in Weber’s recruiting career (after missing out on Charlie Villaneuva, Andre Iguodala, Sherron Collins and Jon Scheyer), I thought "Hell, I’ll take a 4-star any-day."  Even his picture, showed somewhat of a mean-streak.  I read he was a great 3-point shooter and later saw he was compared to Robbie Hummel as a prospect.  Sounded like a good get….  Then I saw him play.  It was in the IHSA state championships against Derrick Rose's team.  Obviously, I was floored by how good Rose was.  But I was also turned off by how awkward I thought Cole was.  Let’s just say he is the exact same type of player he is now, as he was then (ironic because he is one of my favorite players now).  But at the time, I thought he was awkward, un

athletic, and didn’t display anything outstanding.  "How was this guy a 4-star recruit and how is he supposed to succeed at the college level?  He’s not even dominating in high school" I thought.  At that point, I immediately wrote off BC30 as a waste of a scholarship.  When Scout.com later downgraded him to a 3-star recruit, I thought my criticisms were getting validated.

Two and a half years into his Illini career and very minutes played later, nothing had changed.  I’ve heard him referred to many times as "waste of a scholarship" around campus.  Seems like my opinion was a popular one.  Then something amazing happened.  Chester Frazier graduated and we started struggling.  We realized that we needed an effort guy.  Bruce inserted him into the starting lineup halfway through his junior season and he hasn’t looked back (even though he's been shuffled in and out of the starting line-up, he has enjoyed solid playing time as a result).  While he’s never dominant and again, still very much the same type of player as he was in high school, he brings to a lot to our team.  Defense, hustle, effort, 3-point consistency, humor, and he just always seems to know where he is supposed to be on the floor.  While he will probably never be an all-star, he brings the team together and has been an integral member of our team.  "Glue guy" and "intangibles" are words I feel are used too often, but I can't honestly think of a better way to describe him.  Does no one thing spectacularly, yet he does everything pretty well, and with full effort.  "He does all the little thigns, he just needs to score" as Weber once put it.  And when he gained confidence in his 3-point shot, he started contributing on the stat sheet as well.

I'm not the first to admit to this mistake, but let me apologize for writing you off, BC30.  You’ve waited, improved, and showed us what you can do.  You’ve embraced your role as the "glue guy" and I’m glad we offered you a scholarship.  You’re the guy in the class of 2007 who consistently displayed improvement season after season, game after game.  Hey, he puts in the effort, what do you expect?  It’s just too bad he didn’t redshirt because we could use him next year!  Perhaps now there is one NBA scout saying to another "Him?  He can’t even dominate in college.  Why are you drafting him??"  Ok that’s not happening, but its not that different than me writing him off in high school as a collegiate waste, right?.  He won't get drafted and he probably won’t ever make an NBA team.  But if this guy can be on a championship NBA team, you'd figure there might be a GM out there willing to give BC30 a shot???  Unfortunately, that's again, very unlikely.  But I have no doubt that given a spot on an NBA team and with the patience that allows him a year or two to develop and adjust to the pace of the game, he can be a valuable addition to an NBA team as well.  Keep efforting, Billy Cole!  Keep efforting!

In a shocking move Wednesday, the Utah Jazz have traded two-time NBA All-Star and fellow Illini alum to the New Jersey Nets.  In return, they will receive Devin Harris, Derrick Favors, $3 million, and most importantly 2 first round draft picks.  This move tends to shock me amid the rumors that management "forced out" legendary coach Jerry Sloan to appease DWill in the hopes that they keep him long term.  So why would they trade him away less than a month later?  Even Deron's biggest "rival" thinks it was a bad idea for the Jazz to trade him away.

In this blogger's opinion, it's because of recent news that Deron said he would go to the Knicks when he is a free agent in 2012.  The Jazz traded him away for young talent and draft picks to get compensated for a free agent they would have lost in a season and a half anyways.  We see this move in baseball all the time, when small market teams trade a star player in the final year of their contract they produced to the Yankees/Red Sox/Cubs in return for prospect for building for the future.  I must say I'm surprised to see this in the NBA, especially now when the 2011 draft class is perceived as weak (good news for our very own Demtri McCamey).  I also see Nets owner Nikhail Prokhorov as the NBA's version of the late Yankees owner George Steinbrenner.  Exceedingly wealthy, and will do anything, and buy anything, to help his team win.  Only thing is, he has that pesky salary cap to worry about, which the Yankees do not.  Do the Nets think they can get Deron to sign an extention?  That is yet to be seen.  But as far as I know, that was not a part of this deal, as it was for the Knicks' Carmelo Anthony deal.  This was a good consolation prize for the Nets, who fell second in the Carmelo sweepstakes to the aforementioned Knicks, but if they want to be competitive in the future, they will need to work hard on securing the future of the guy they literally traded away their future for.  Until then, Deron can enjoy living in New Jersey, WHICH IS NOT NEW YORK!  Best of luck, Deron Williams!

According to tan interview on SportsCenter earlier this week, draft guru Mel Kiper has ranked Martez Wilson as his number one rated Inside linebacker for the 2011 NFL draft.  Needless this to say, this is quite the endorsement as Kiper is to the NFL draft as Lunardi is to bracketology.  This personally comes as a surprise to me, who was expecting Wilson to be just a "pretty good" prospect, who would see his stock explode after the NFL combine.

 

My reasoning?  Tez had a great season last year but he's we all know he's still got a lot to learn.  But one area where he's light years ahead of his competition, is in his athleticism.  And let's face it - GM's go nuts over combine results.  With Tez's athleticism, any doubts about his playing ability could be (and will be) erased by his inevitable strong combine showing.  But with the combine still a week away, Tez has already climbed to the top of Kiper's Big Board (for MLB)'s.  Combine this with a very strong combine showing and the future looks bright for one of our biggest gets of the 2007 recruiting class.  Hopefully this will project to a first round draft pick and two potential Illini's drafted in the first round (with Corey Liuget).  The more Illini in the League, the more Zook has to pitch.  And let's face it, give Zook a pitch, and he's a dangerous recruiter.

The Jazz announced today that former Chicago Bulls great Jerry Sloan, the longest tenured pro coach in America, will step down as head coach of the Jazz today.  This comes as no surprise after Sloan and GM Kevin O’Connor had a heavily publicized spat after losing to the Chicago Bulls earlier this week.  The relevant question to Illini fans: Did Deron have anything to do with his "resignation" and how does this affect Deron Williams’ pending free agency?

 

The Jazz have been struggling of late and Deron and Sloan have disagreed several times this year.  It was all compounded when the Jazz were embarrassed by Derrick Rose and the Bulls in the United Center - one of Deron's favorite venues when he played at Illinois.  He even gone so far as to ignore Sloan and call his own plays in the final minutes.  So the question is if ownership sided with Deron in the hopes of locking him up long term when his contract expires in two years.  Seems pretty likely.  Much respect to Jerry Sloan.  Illini (and Bulls fans) will remember he is/was a great coach from our days watching MIchael Jordan beating up on Karl Malone in the NBA finals.  But from a management perspective, Deron is a 26 year old NBA all-star entering his prime.  Jerry Sloan is 69 years old.  Even with good relations, it'll be hard to "lock up" Jerry Sloan long term.  I just wish his exit had been dealt with in a classier manner.

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With Rashard Mendenhall getting his share of bad press lately, we've overlooked what the other outstanding Illini #5 has accomplished in his pro career.  Congratulations are in order to Deron Williams on being selected to his second straight NBA All Star Game.  Deron is having yet another great season for the struggling Jazz, averaging 21.9 ppg and (only) 9.5 apg (down from his last three years in which he has averaged double digit assists).  Unfortunately despite many NBA analysts estimates that Deron, during last year's playoffs, has "passed" Chris Paul, he will come off the bench to starting point guard, you guessed it, Chris Paul.

After being drafted ahead of Chris Paul in the 2005 NBA draft, Deron had the inevitable fate of having to answer if he was "better" than CP3.  After dismantling him in 2004 at Assembly Hall (in my opinion, still the greatest REGULAR SEASON game I have ever seen) and holding a head-to-head NBA record of 14-5, he is still hearing these questions.  After hearing that analysts said Deron was better last year (during the NBA playoffs) I thought the questions would end.  But seeing CP3 voted ahead of him this year had me thinking "here we go again..."

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Yes, basketball is just around the corner.  Different from previous seasons, our football team is still alive and keeping out attention spans so that we haven't had to revert to the old Illini excuse: "Wait till basketball season".  As excited as I am about the great football season, I've been waiting 3 years to see this team finally and tonight I finally got my chance.  Here are my observations.  Granted it's exhibition and I'm no Joe so you'll have to take my analysis with a grain of salt.

via cdn3.sbnation.com

 

 

1) Even with all the talent we had, we are still a totally different team with McCamey on the court.  Surrounded by talent or not, he will always be the heart and soul of this team.  Our team will go as he goes.

2) Mike Tisdale has my early vote for most improved player.  Playing against the likes of Kevin Durant and team USA has really helped his game and improved his confidence for when he plays against the pions in the lowly NCAA.

3) Crandall Head looks very quick/explosive.  Granted I've never seen him play before, but I'd assume that after missing his senior year of HS with a torn ACL, he'd be a little timid or slow.  Nope, he looks quick, and most importantly he appears to have broken the psychological barrier to recovery known as confidence (for examples of players who have not overcome this see Randle, Brian.)

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What more is there to say about the Illini basketball season?  The NW game definitely summed up the season.  Pretty well.  Looks like the 3-pt defense was still hung over from the Missouri game, giving up open three's and leading to an early deficit.  Also prevalent again, is our penchant to start the game slow.  This season has definitely been a tale of two teams

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However, it looks like like Bruce made all the adjustments he needed to tonight.    Let's go over the key points I took from this game:

Yanking Brandon Paul for Bill Cole (nice shooting game, sir) after giving up a few open three's led to the defensive turnovers on 2 of the next 3 possessions.  I love BP but he needs to get his sh*t together defensively.

Great game, Bill Cole.

Ed Hightower sucks.

Mike Tisdale's career game.  Scoring the Illini's first 2809 points and not missing a shot for as long as I can remember.  It's good to see him heed Weber's word to be more aggressive.

Mike Davis got his usual double-double in convincing, and early fashion.  He was huge for us in overtime.

I have a feeling every team is going to play the trap against us for the rest of the year.  McCamey needs to be more aggressive in breaking the half court trap.  When he finally did, it lead to Cole's open 3 and an easy lay-up too.  The lolly-gagging and lob/bounce passes have given up at least 3 breakaway layups for the other team this year.

Ed Hightower sure looks funny when he makes calls.

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October 13, 2006.  Three years ago today, was possibly the darkest moment in recent Illini basketball history.  The decommitment of Eric Gordon from us to Indiana after months of denying rumors that he was headed to IU.  He finally announced it just weeks before signing day and on the week of our Midnight Madness (if I remember correctly).  At that point the Weber haters came out in full force.  We lost Gordon.  Derrick Rose just left us out of his top 5.  Weber had still not landed the top in-state recruit to silence his critics.  Many people were ready to jump ship and fire Weber. It was hard to see any light in the situation.

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